There are no hard feelings between Notre Dame and departing offensive line coach Harry Hiestand as he heads to the Chicago Bears. That much was most clear when the Irish released a statement not only from head coach Brian Kelly but also from Hiestand late Wednesday evening, a clear difference from just last week when Kelly issued a standalone statement in a seemingly-similar circumstance.

“Harry is an outstanding coach — one of the best offensive line coaches in football,” Kelly said. “He developed young men in the spirit of Notre Dame. I know this was a difficult decision for him based upon his feelings for this program, this University and his student-athletes.”

For six years, Hiestand and Kelly worked together by essentially working apart. By no means was that a sign of a strained relationship. Rather, Kelly trusted the most-veteran assistant on his staff to operate autonomously. Hiestand rewarded that trust by producing cohesive and productive units time and time again, no matter what first-round NFL Draft pick had just walked out the door.

“I’m thankful to Coach Kelly for letting me coach my way,” Hiestand said. “I’m also appreciative of the offensive linemen for being the best part of every day here and working extremely hard to be the best.”

There are no hard feelings between Hiestand and his positional charges, either. Rather than take to social media with shocked emojis or vague questions of loyalty, senior center Sam Mustipher and senior right guard Alex Bars both praised Hiestand alongside Kelly’s words.

“Coach Hiestand built upon the standard of Notre Dame offensive line play,” said Mustipher, expected to anchor that line in his fifth season with Bars at his side once again. “He helped bring it back to where it made those before us proud to tune in every weekend. The lessons he taught me as a football player, and as a man, will carry me through the rest of my life.”

Praising a football coach for growing a player into a man may come across as cliché, and lauding offensive linemen in general for being better-spoken than many of their teammates no matter the team is a premise widely-accepted by football media members. But the degree of which that latter statement has been true among the Irish for the last few years is a testament to Hiestand upholding the former sentiment.

“Harry’s been an incredible influence on me and all the offensive linemen that he’s coached,” Bars said. “He’s shown us the way and we’ll continue to maintain the standard of excellence expected by a Notre Dame offensive lineman.”

There would never be an ideal time to lose a coach of Hiestand’s caliber, but losing him at the same time as two consensus All-Americans depart in left tackle Mike McGlinchey (68) and left guard Quenton Nelson (56) will be especially difficult to overcome. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Without Hiestand, reaching that standard of excellence will become much harder. Exactly how much harder cannot be known until the vacancy is filled, but there are few, if any, offensive line coaches of Hiestand’s caliber. One with a delicate touch will be needed to figure out the process of replacing two first-round picks in left guard Quenton Nelson and left tackle Mike McGlinchey.

Irish Illustrated’s Pete Sampson gathered from offensive coordinator Chip Long before the Citrus Bowl that Notre Dame will look to move freshman tackle Robert Hainsey over to left tackle, leaving sophomore Tommy Kraemer at right tackle. The two split time at right tackle this season.

In that scenario, the new offensive line coach will need to prepare Hainsey for arguably the toughest offensive line spot, coach up Kraemer in pass protection and, most of all, find a left guard to complete the unit. He will have a number of highly-touted and well-coached options to choose from, beginning with junior Trevor Ruhland, sophomore Liam Eichenberg and freshman Josh Lugg.

Hiestand would have looked at that puzzle with a version of zest. Unseen, of course, as he hardly ever showed any emotion* aside from frustration with anything not focused on football and, more specifically, the finer points of offensive line play. Such tunnel vision will be nearly impossible to find in any possible candidate.

That single-mindedness earned his players’ respect. It, and Hiestand, certainly played a role in repeatedly convincing highly-considered draft picks to return for one more season with the Irish. The likes of Nelson, McGlinchey, Ronnie Stanley and Zack Martin all turned down possible first-round selections for another season under his tutelage. They both trusted Hiestand to improve them further and felt some degree of loyalty to his cause that they wanted to aid it for another fall, helping groom another generation of offensive linemen in doing so.

It paid off. Stanley heard his name called with the No. 6 pick in 2016. Martin went No. 16 in 2014. There is a good chance both Nelson and McGlinchey are drafted sooner than that this spring.

Chris Watt turned a third-round selection into a three-year career thus far, despite hampering injuries. Nick Martin went from the 50th overall pick in 2016 to starting the first 14 games at center for the Houston Texans this season before injury cut short his season.

Hiestand’s methods yielded dividends both for the players and the team as a whole. In three of the last six years, Notre Dame’s rushing attacked finished in the top 40 in both yards per game and yards per rush. Twice in the last three years that latter figure landed in the top 10, at No. 3 in 2017 and No. 8 in 2015. (As always when discussing national ranks in regards to rushing totals, these were not adjusted for sacks, although Hiestand’s offensive lines gave up only a few of those, highlighted by 0.62 per game in 2013.)

This departure is one that will set the Irish back, but it was not unforeseen and it was entirely understandable.

“While disappointed to see Harry go, I’m not surprised by his decision,” Kelly said. “We knew six years ago when we hired him that his final step in coaching could be in the NFL.”

Filling Hiestand’s shoes might not be truly possible for Kelly, but aiming high for a top-line coach will be a priority, nonetheless. That unit’s success affects literally every offensive decision.

*One occasion Hiestand did border on showing emotion came when Notre Dame received the Joe Moore Award as the country’s most outstanding offensive line this year. Kelly set up the presentation by calling Hiestand in front of the team. Unless the video shared on social media was heavily-edited, Hiestand responded by not moving, averse to the spotlight as any offensive line aficionado would be. As soon as Kelly hands the moment over to former Irish offensive lineman and Joe Moore Award founder Aaron Taylor, Hiestand knows what is happening and a smirk flashes across his face.

The response of the entire auditorium illustrates a respect the entire Notre Dame program had, rather, has for Hiestand and his work.

This is not to diminish the losses of receiver Miles Boykin and consensus first-team All-American cornerback Julian Love. Notre Dame will miss both of them, Love in particular. But looking at the Irish depth chart, there are avenues to survival without both.

Notre Dame will return two starting receivers in rising senior Chase Claypool and fifth-year-to-be Chris Finke (speaking of which, see below). A number of options exist to replace Love, though obviously none will match his shutdown abilities. Either rising sophomore TaRiq Bracy will put on the necessary muscle to compete with receivers at this level or rising senior Donte Vaughn will return reinvigorated with health after recent surgery to repair a torn labrum surgery or rising sophomore Houston Griffith will move from safety to get his talent on the field or fifth-year Shaun Crawford will recover from an ACL tear quicker than expected or … or … or … If one of those pans out, the Irish defense should be comfortable in its coverage, buoyed by the stalwart safety combination of Alohi Gilman and Jalen Elliott. (Imagine sincerely saying “stalwart safety combination” just six months ago.)

Look again at the depth chart, and such luxuries do not exist at defensive end. If rising seniors Khalid Kareem and Julian Okwara had not opted to return, Notre Dame’s 2019 dreams would have hit a lowered ceiling nine months before the season began. By no means were they certain high-round draft picks, but the allure of athletic and talented defensive ends may have easily led to some outsized draft hopes.

Their backups are certainly more than capable — rising seniors Daelin Hayes and Ade Ogundeji — but a talented second-unit is as important at defensive end as dangerous starters are. To replace the latter with the former is to diminish the entire enterprise outright.

The Irish could not have recovered from losing both Kareem and Okwara, at least not to the extent where Playoff talk would be viable again. Lose one and it would have still been dubious, at best.

Take a look at the teams expected to be in the mix for the Playoff. Using current championship odds … Clemson at 2-to-1, Alabama at just less than 3-to-1, Georgia at 6-to-1, Ohio State at 8-to-1, Michigan at 16-to-1 and then Oklahoma also at 16-to-1. Those first five have been known for their defenses more than anything else in recent years. Bookmakers put some faith in their ability to reload on the fly.

Notre Dame has not earned that trust, and its roster does not indicate it should have. As well as Justin Ademilola performed as a freshman in four games, inserting him into a pivotal role in 2019 would likely be a recipe for a mediocre season. He is another year of development away from being ready for that role, barring a Matt Balis-induced excellent offseason.

The Irish will need Kareem and Okwara to survive the losses of defensive tackles Jerry Tillery and Jonathan Bonner, but if they play as they did in 2018, that is a reasonable ask. If they continue to develop, it becomes a probability more than a Notre Dame leap of faith.

The Irish will miss Boykin’s back-shoulder reliability and everything about Love, but Brian Kelly and his coaching staff coaxed back the two most-pivotal pieces from NFL draft consideration.

Speaking of Finke, he confirmed his intent to return for his final year of eligibility Thursday evening. And he did it in a way only befitting a man comfortable in his own skin.

With the Wednesday announcement of current junior linebacker D.J. Morgan’s intention to transfer this summer as a graduate with two years of eligibility remaining, Notre Dame’s roster drops to 87 scholarship players expected this coming fall. Included among them, at least 12, possibly 14 linebackers. Before explaining that …

Morgan finishes his Irish career with two tackles in two 2017 appearances as a safety. He moved to linebacker during 2018’s spring practices, but never came particularly close to playing time. It remained difficult to see him cracking into the rotation moving forward given the quality of recruiting classes at the position in the last two cycles.

“I would like to thank the University of Notre Dame for everything they have done for me,” Morgan wrote on Twitter. “When I decided to come here, my main goal was to get my degree from this prestigious University, and I am proud to see that I will be completing that goal this summer!

“During this time I will be searching for a new school to attend as a graduate transfer to finish off my last 2 years of eligibility.”

(@deundraymorgan)

Before facing Louisville on Labor Day, the Irish will need to be down to 85 scholarship players. At 87 now, that does not include incoming freshman J.D. Bertrand, who had a recruitment handled in a deliberate fashion so as to make him eligible for an academic scholarship. Notre Dame also continues to chase two defenders — consensus four-star linebacker Asa Turner and consensus four-star defensive end Isaiah Foskey — who could balloon the roster count further.

Lacey will need to be ready for at least four games next season, especially with three of these six returning from injury: Tagovailoa-Amosa with a broken foot, though he did at least take some snaps against Clemson; Franklin from a torn quad that will limit him through the spring; and Spears from a torn ACL that could conceivably cost him 2019.

Former Notre Dame quarterback Brandon Wimbush will continue his career at Central Florida. Wimbush announced his graduate transfer destination Tuesday morning.

“The journey continues on …,” Wimbush wrote on Instagram. “A sincere thank you to Notre Dame for giving me endless opportunities on and off the field. Words truly can not (sic) describe what this incredible University and the PEOPLE mean to me and always will mean to me. I’m truly thankful. Cannot say it enough.

“With that being said, I am excited to announce that UCF has granted me an awesome opportunity to play my last year of collegiate football for their great University.”

Wimbush will enter into a starting opportunity, although an unfortunate one and a competitive one. The late November horrendous knee injury to three-year starter McKenzie Milton will almost-assuredly sideline him through the 2019 season. If not for the injury, Milton would either be starting 2019 for the Knights or headed to the NFL.

In his first year of any action, sophomore Darriel Mack played in 10 games for Central Florida, completing 51 of his 100 pass attempts for 619 yards and three touchdowns, including going 35-of-71 for 526 yards and three scores in the two-plus games Milton missed.

Wimbush finishes his Irish career with a 13-3 record as a starter, including four wins during 2018’s unbeaten regular season. After the Notre Dame offense failed to break 24 points in the first three games of the season, offensive coordinator Chip Long turned to Ian Book for a spark, one Book provided and then some.

Wimbush’s role became non-existent after that, aside from a Senior Day start in place of an injured Book, throwing for 130 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 68 yards.

Mustipher and Co. will now have reason to keep an eye on the Knights in 2019. After going 25-1 in the last two seasons, Central Florida will want to keep the momentum rolling, particularly with Stanford arriving in Orlando on Sept. 14, a week before the Knights head to Pittsburgh. The Knights genuinely entering the College Football Playoff conversation remains unlikely, but topping those two before rolling through the American Athletic Conference would at least start the discussion, especially if a former Irish quarterback headlines the way.

Named 2018’s Next Man In, Wimbush finishes his Irish career with 2,606 yards on 193-of-382 passing with 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions along with 1,155 rushing yards and 16 additional touchdowns.

AS FOR NOTRE DAME’S QB IN 2019 …Early Heisman odds came from an online sportsbook Tuesday, betonline.ag. Irish rising senior Ian Book was given 16-to-1 odds, tied for ninth on the listing. Given the names ahead of him, Book’s realistic chances of winning the Heisman Trophy are slim. Only Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence and Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa have odds lower than 12-to-1, at 7-to-2 and 4-to-1, respectively.

Then come two Notre Dame opponents — Georgia running back D’Andre Swift and quarterback Jake Fromm, both at 12-to-1. Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson checks in at 25-to-1, just ahead of Stanford quarterback K.J. Costello at 33-to-1.

If nothing else, Book can count on some early-season hype if the Irish top Swift and Fromm on Sept. 21.

Dabo Swinney paid tribute to the late Tyler Trent in his speech while Clemson visited the White House 🙏

A sign of a strong program is one that loses players to the NFL before they exhaust eligibility. In that vein, Notre Dame lost a consensus first-team All-American cornerback, its leading receiver and a long-time tease of a tight end. The last of those (Alizé Mack) was never expected back for a fifth season; replacing Miles Boykin’s production is certainly within reason; and a consensus first-team All-American should be expected to take the route junior Julian Love has.

Even with that expectation, losing Love — and to a lesser extent, Boykin — alters the natural roster cycle, the inherent design intended during recruiting. Reloading is always the hope, the next intention, but very rarely is the young backup comparable to the near professional, even by the end of the coming season.

Nonetheless, the Irish got off easy this cycle compared to four of their 2019 opponents …

GEORGIA: Junior running back Elijah Holyfield, the Bulldogs’ second-leading rusher, departs after gaining 1,018 rushing yards with seven touchdowns on 6.4 yards per carry this season. Frankly, that is the least of Georgia’s losses. Three of quarterback Jake Fromm’s four favorite targets will leave eligibility on the figurative table:

Without running back Karan Higdon, Michigan will presumably rely on its passing game more in 2019, quarterback Shea Patterson’s second season as a Wolverine. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

MICHIGAN: The Wolverines got good news when quarterback Shea Patterson opted to return for 2019, but losing leading-rusher Karan Higdon (1,178 yards, 10 touchdowns, 5.3 average) will be an issue head coach Jim Harbaugh undoubtedly hoped to avoid. Junior tight end Zach Gentry, Patterson’s third-most prolific target with 32 catches for 514 yards and two scores, will also head to the next level.

On the flip side, Harbaugh could have hoped linebacker Devin Bush (team-leading 80 tackles with 9.5 for loss including five sacks), defensive end Rashan Gary (44 tackles with seven for loss including 3.5 sacks) or linebacker David Long (17 tackles with one interception) might return, but no such luck for Michigan.

Duke junior quarterback Daniel Jones will head to the NFL after his third season as a starter, immediately lowering the Blue Devils’ 2019 expectations. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

DUKE: Junior linebacker Joe Giles-Harris paced the Blue Devils with 81 tackles, including seven for loss with one sack, doing so in only nine games. But losing Giles-Harris is hardly the concern for Duke. The decision to turn pro from quarterback Daniel Jones is.

In his third year as a starter, the junior fought through a broken collarbone to still play in 11 games in 2018, completing 60.5 percent of his passes for 2,674 yards and 22 touchdowns with nine interceptions. He added 319 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

Jones’ decision may come as a surprise, but it is one that should work out well for both him and Notre Dame. Some mock drafts project him as a top-10 pick. In a draft light on quarterbacks — partly because Oregon’s Justin Herbert returned for another season, yet already somewhat counteracted by the Monday draft entry from Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray — Jones could end up being the third or fourth passer picked.

BOSTON COLLEGE: The Eagles will say farewell to junior cornerback Hemp Cheevers after he notched seven interceptions this season, returning one for a touchdown, to go along with 39 tackles.

STANFORD: This will seem like the Cardinal lost a lot to the NFL draft, but it could have been worse: As the departures mounted, so did speculation junior quarterback K.J. Costello might follow them. He opted not to.

Stanford will be without running back Bryce Love after his prodigious two seasons as the starter. Consider that a loss akin to the Irish Love, the inevitable price of enjoying the success in the first place.

Junior receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside will capitalize on his breakout season of 1,059 yards and 14 touchdowns, depriving Costello of his favorite jump-ball threat.

Junior tight end Kaden Smith will also head to the next level, in large part thanks to his 47 catches for 635 yards and two touchdowns this past season.

Louisville, New Mexico, Virginia, Bowling Green, USC, Virginia Tech and Navy all did not lose anyone early or pseudo-early to the NFL draft.